In any telecommunications system, a first party has the ability to contact and communicate with a second party. For example, a calling party has the ability to communicate by placing a voice call to a called party. Similarly, an emailing party has the ability to send an email message to someone else, a text-messaging party has the ability to send a text message to someone else, and so forth.
Each communicating party has the ability to provide alternative treatment for an incoming call or message, in the event that the party is not there, or is otherwise occupied, to respond to the communication attempt. For example, a called party who is not available to receive an incoming voice call may record ahead of time an outgoing voice message to be played for the far-end party who has called. And an emailed party who is not available to respond to a received email may provide ahead of time an away-from-office message to be sent to the far-end party in response to the received email.